~ A Trinity On Earth—The
Holy Spirit ~
There are
three Witnesses on Earth (a second “Trinity” in this passage—the first being
the Trinity in Heaven—see 1 John 5:6-13).
The Scripture
~ “Who
is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God? This is He who came by water and
blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness,
because the Spirit is truth. For there
are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth:
the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and
these three agree as one” (1 John 5:5-8).
The First Witness On Earth Is The Holy
Spirit ~ God,
The Father, uses the Word of God and the Spirit of God as teacher communicating the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God’s ongoing and invisible
role is primarily that of communicating
and comforting God’s people on
earth. A very significant aspect of His
role is that of a deposit or guarantee
of our salvation through Jesus Christ. The
Holy Spirit is also a restraining force against evil—when the saints of God and
the Spirit of God are removed from this present earth evil will be unchecked.
The Spirit as Our Teacher ~ Jesus also said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). Jesus also said, “But when the Helper comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from
the Father, He will testify of Me”
(John 15:26).
The Spirit as Communicator ~ Jesus said, “Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
And when He has come, He will
convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin,
because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father
and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged”
(John 16:7-11).
The Spirit as Our Comforter
~ Jesus Christ said, “If you love
Me, keep My commandments. And I
will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [Comforter,
Counselor], that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you
know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to
you” (John 14:15-18).
The
Spirit as Our Guarantee ~ “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ
and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed
us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2
Corinthians 1:21-22). “Now He who has prepared us
for this very thing is God, who also has
given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:5). In Him you also trusted, after you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise
of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
You may also
be interested in two related topics:
The three
part ALN post about the “3 Witnesses—Heaven” (October
27-28-29, 2015).
The three
part ALN post “3 Tests” of 1 John (see January 20-21-22, 2015).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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